|
Previous months in Central Washington
With Jim McLain
2003
January
Greetings from the Yakima Valley of Washington state! We live in
the heart of the apple-growing region of the United States, but
our valley produces much more: pears, plums, sweet cherries, peaches,
nectarines and most other fruit, excluding citrus.
We are located on the rain shadow of the Cascade Mountains, so
we have little precipitation—an average of less than eight
inches a year. We depend entirely on storage reservoirs in the mountains
for our irrigation water. Seattle may be only 140 miles over the
mountains from us, but as far as gardening goes, they are a world
away from us.
I am a retired elementary public school with a passion for gardening,
especially vegetables and small fruits. For several years after
retirement, my wife and I were vendors at our local farmers’
market in near-by Selah. Now I spend much of my time gardening,
writing, and being an active part of our Yakima County Master Gardeners
organization.
Very little goes on in vegetable gardens of our valley in January.
We can expect them to be covered with snow, although this year we
have had only a few inches. We had almost three inches of rain in
December, when usually we would have had snow. El Nino has been
taking the blame for our warmer than usual winter weather.
So we peruse lots of seed catalogs, watch TV gardening shows, read
about gardening, and dream of gardens yet to be during our winters.
I have an almost missionary zeal for raised beds; I must admit that
I am in the minority in our valley, but we are gaining converts!
The garden has been tucked safely to bed with lots of organic matter
worked in and a cover of shredded leaves. I glance longingly at
it daily and even stroll through it when the weather allows. It’s
this time of year that I envy those of you who are having your summer
in the southern hemisphere. Do a little extra gardening for me!
Jim
February
Greetings once again from the Yakima Valley of Washington state.
The gardening season still seems a long time away, but the days
are getting noticeably longer, and eventually we will get to dig
in the dirt again.
Two weeks ago we had orientation for 45 new interns of our Master
Gardeners organization. Then last week we had our first class, on
botany. We will have a number of different instructors during our
classes continuing weekly through the first of May.
Classes will cover just about every aspect of gardening: soils
and garden management, plant diseases, vegetable gardening and small
fruit, fruit tree management, plus weed identification and management.
There will also be classes on tree and shrub health, pest management
basics, plant problem identification and finally a plant problem
diagnosis and insect I.D. practicum.
Master Gardeners first began 30 years ago in Washington state when
the staff horticulturalists of Washington State University Cooperative
Extension of King and Pierce counties found themselves flooded with
questions from home gardeners. The professional staffs of these
two urban areas (Seattle and Tacoma) found that they could not begin
to keep up with all the calls they received. So Master Gardeners
was born to train home gardeners to help other gardeners with their
gardening problems.
Trained volunteers are expected to give back to the gardening community
in equal amount the 50 hours of classroom instruction we receive
each year. Many of us remain in the organization year after year—it
is also a great social group where long-term friendships are formed.
Master Gardeners has since spread to every county in our state,
to all 50 states and to four provinces in Canada. I understand that
it has now spread beyond our two countries. Each state and provincial
Master Gardener organization differs to best meet its own needs.
Each state has at least one agricultural college with Extension
agents serving its counties. These agents serve commercial growers
by working with them to solve their problems and by making available
current research through bulletins and pamphlets. Master Gardener
volunteers are now able to take much of the responsibility for helping
home gardeners. Canada’s Master Gardeners training and programs
are organized differently, but I am not aware how.
Here in Yakima County we maintain a Plant Clinic to answer questions
by phone. Gardeners also bring in samples of their vegetable, fruit,
flower, and lawn problems to our office for diagnosis and possible
solutions. We make available both organic and chemical options.
In the years that I have worked in the clinic I have seen organic
gardening becoming more and more accepted while the use of synthetic
chemicals have declined.
Many Master Gardener organizations in our state also maintain demonstration
gardens to help educate the gardening public. Vegetable, water,
children’s, xeriscape, perennial flower, and rock gardens are
some of the individual gardens that make up demonstration gardens.
This year our Master Gardeners group will begin developing our first
demonstration gardens.
Yakima County Master Gardeners provide weekly gardening columns
to two newspapers. We are also available to present gardening programs
to clubs and organizations. Each spring we present our Gardening
Seminar at the Yakima Area Arboretum, often to a sold-out crowd.
Another popular activity is our annual spring plant sale featuring
plants grown by our members.
Well, I didn’t mean to get so carried away telling about my
favorite gardening organization. If you have questions about Master
Gardeners, I would be pleased to visit with you via
e-mail. I am also interested in learning about your gardening
organizations—and to just talk gardening!
March
Greetings again from the Yakima Valley! Winter as we know it in
Eastern Washington never really made itself known this year. With
no snowfall more than three inches and less than eight inches total,
we don’t know what to make of it. There is always the chance
of more snow in March, but it won’t stay long. Most of our
moisture came in the form of rain this winter, which has never happened
in almost 40 years we have lived here.
All of my raised beds were tucked in with a comforter of shredded
leaves last fall after I had spaded in a goodly amount. The rest
of the garden was treated in the same manner.
Early every March my first job in the garden has been to spade
the leaves under and rototill them under in the rest of the garden.
By planting time (starting in late March and continuing into June)
I rarely am able to find an identifiable leaf in the soil. The earthworms
and the microorganisms must have been having one heck of a feast!
After reading Lee Reich’s book, “Weedless Gardening”,
I have been impressed enough with his arguments for no-till gardening
that I plan to experiment with it in some of my raised beds this
year. When the cool season seedlings are up and established, I’ll
return some of the mulch. With the warm season crops, such as tomatoes
and peppers (capsicums), I’ll mulch them once the hot days
of summer arrive.
Although we can have killing frost into the first week of June,
I plan to plant potatoes, peas, and other cool season vegetables
in late March and into April. With the help of floating row covers,
cold frames and plastic covered tunnels, I’ll attempt to outwit
Mother Nature.
Unlike most hard-core vegetable gardeners, I don’t often start
seeds indoors, mainly because I lack the space. Instead I depend
on good gardening friends to help me out with varieties I can’t
find in local nurseries or garden centers. I do repay them with
fresh produce they don’t grow.
Well, the species crocuses have been in bloom since the middle
of February, unusually early. Daffodils and tulips are poking up
through the mulch, so spring can’t be too far in the future!
Last updated
1 April, 2003
Our mission: To help you grow your own healthy organic
produce.
www.thevegetablepatch.com (ABN 12 679 433 512) is run by Gavin &
Paula Atkinson. Using this site is conditional on you reading and
agreeing with our Disclaimer and
Copyright statements © 1998-2003.
|
